December 16, 2015
Project Learning Tree is excited to announce that we have awarded 24 GreenWorks! grants to schools and organizations across the country to involve students in community-based environmental projects. Nearly 4,000 students in 18 states will participate in the different projects.
GreenWorks! is the service-learning component of Project Learning Tree that engages educators, students, and their communities in “learning-by-doing” local environmental stewardship projects. Since 1992, PLT has distributed more than $1 million to fund more than 1,000 PLT GreenWorks! action projects in communities across the country. This year, GreenWorks! grants were funded up to $1,000 each.
Our GreenWorks! program not only provides leadership opportunities for students to become responsible environmental stewards but it also exposes them to STEM skills that prepares them to be globally competitive in the 21st Century workplace.
The GreenWorks! grants announced this week will fund elementary through high school students as they design native plant gardens, create aquaponics gardens, and educate others about environmental issues, among other projects.
For example, with GreenWorks! support:
- In Troy, Virginia, special needs students at the Lafayette School and Treatment Center will have the opportunity to establish and maintain a Therapeutic Garden as a means to provide therapy and relaxation for all students while also providing them with healthy snack alternatives.
- In Oregon City, OR, 7th-8th grade students will restore 1-acre of unused land into native white oaks savanna. Students will research native plants and produce thorough mapping of the area, measuring water saturation and soil conditions. The 7th-8th grade students will then teach Kindergarten and 1st grade students lessons of their studies and work together to plant and grow an oaks savanna.
- In Liberty, Kentucky, students will construct cold frames and raised beds for a vegetable garden on the schools campus that will be used in the school’s backpack program which provides students and families in need with backpacks full of food every Friday to help them through the weekend.
Proposals for the next round of grants will be due September 30, 2016. Application forms will be made available in the spring from www.plt.org/resources/greenworks-grants.
